Essex Landing development approved in Saugus

Jeannette Hinkle jhinkle@wickedlocal.com @JennyHinkleWL

Friday

Aug 19, 2016 at 4:17 PMAug 22, 2016 at 9:46 AM

Essex Landing received its final approval from the Planning Board.

The mixed-use development heralded as the “renaissance of Route 1” will be located on the current site of Route 1 Miniature Golf & Batting Cages – directly on top of the habitat of one Orange Dinosaur, whose fate is still unknown.

The Planning Board’s unanimous approval of the project’s site plan on Aug. 18 was subject to a long list of conditions written by board members, peer review consultant Davis Square Architects and BMA Architectural Group, which represents the developers.

For the project to proceed, the conditions must be recorded at the Registry of Deeds. If no one protests the project or conditions within 30 days, developers can apply for a building permit – which will cost about $700,000 according to Planning Board Chairman Peter Rossetti.

‘Renaissance of Route 1’

The development will have 255 single-bedroom apartments, 26 of which will be designated as affordable housing per Saugus regulations. The apartments, aimed at young commuters and retirees, will be spread across three apartment buildings and a mixed-use building.

Two hotels on site will offer a total of 280 rooms, 150 in an upscale boutique hotel operated by Saunders Hotel Group and 130 in a separate hotel that caters to extended stay guests.

The site will have three restaurants – one in the mixed-use building, one on the ground floor of the boutique hotel and a café in a separate building.

Michael McKeown of BMA Architectural Group told the Advertiser multiple area restaurants are being considered for the mixed-use building. Saunders Hotel Group will likely bring in its own chef for the 9,000-square-foot restaurant in the boutique hotel, which will include lounge and bar space.

Conditions

Conditions of approval were wide-ranging.

Because the development does not abut any residential neighborhoods, Planning Board members voted to permit construction, demolition and operation of heavy machinery between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except on local, state or federal holidays.

All pumps and filtration systems on the site must be maintained by the owner and a water main that developers plan to extend across Route 1 must be installed before any buildings are granted occupancy.

All buildings in the development must be set back 50 feet from Route 1 and Route 99, and buildings must be set back 25 feet from internal roadways including Collins Avenue, which is being rebuilt by the developers.

A piece of the puzzle

Planning Board member Dorothy Poppe emphasized that developers should work to enhance pedestrian and bicycle access both within the site and along Route 1 and Route 99.

“This is part of the larger Route 1 corridor,” Poppe said.

Essex Landing developer Michael Touchette assured Poppe that the project would add a new sidewalk from the front of the property to the neighboring site, currently occupied by the shuttered restaurant Maddy’s.

“We are going to incorporate bike paths and people walking as much as we can do,” Touchette said.

Shuttle service

In a peer review of the project proposal, Davis Square Architects noted that developers had not formally committed to providing shuttle service within the steep development for handicapped residents or transportation from the development to other locations.

Rossetti said the Planning Board could not require the developer provide transportation within the site or outside of it, but a condition was added to the site plan approval that the developer will “maximize efforts to provide public transportation.”

Touchette told the Planning Board that in a project of this size, transportation is worth the investment.

“That’s part of our marketing plan,” Touchette said. “That’s only a benefit to us and the project, the more transportation we can provide. It makes it appetizing for people to move in there.”

Touchette said developers are working to add the Essex Landing site to MBTA bus routes, and in the meantime will provide transportation to the airport.

Unanimous approval

Planning Board member Dennis Moschella said he couldn’t think of anything more the Board could ask of developers. Planning Board Vice Chairman Lawrence Shaver called the development “perfect.”

Touchette expects the first two buildings of the development to be completed by March 2018.